The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has grown into one of the toughest early-season wrestling tournaments in the country. This past weekend, Northern Iowa competed there alongside some of the nation's best squads.

Max Thomsen finally made his season debut. The 2017 All-American won twice to reach the quarterfinals at 149 pounds, then fell to Duke's Mitch Finesilver 3-2. Thomsen, ranked fifth nationally by Track entering the weekend, won twice more on the backside but ultimately fell to seventh.

Drew Foster turned in a strong weekend, taking third at 184 pounds. The junior went 5-1 with one pin and two victories over Virginia Tech's Zach Zavatsky — a 9-6 decision in the quarterfinals and a 9-5 result in the third-place match. Zavatsky is ranked fourth nationally by Trackwrestling, while Foster, a 2017 All-American, is at No. 13.

Taylor Lujan looked real good at 174 pounds. The junior, ranked No. 9 nationally, also went 5-1 but had three pins en route to bronze at 174 pounds. His only loss came in the semifinals against Missouri's Daniel Lewis, a three-time All-American who's ranked No. 4 in the country.

Bryce Steiert and Josh Alber both medaled for Northern Iowa. Steiert, at 165 pounds, went 3-0 with wins by pin and major decision before falling to Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis in the semifinals. He medically forfeited to sixth. At 141, Alber stormed to the semifinals, but then lost to Ohio State's Joey McKenna and fell to fifth.

Northern Iowa's other five wrestlers — Jay Schwarm (125), Jack Skudlarczyk (133), Pat Scheonfelder (157), Isaac Shedenhelm (197) and Carter Isley (285) — went a combined 7-10 and didn't place. Schwarm's first loss came to Harvard's Nolan Hellickson, 4-3. Hellickson won a state title at Southeast Polk as a senior in 2015.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.